Monday, October 1, 2012

Effective Leadership - Final Reflection

In starting this course, I really didn't know what to expect. I have taken other educational leadership courses
in the past, and they were heavily steeped in theory and generally hard for me
to transfer to my work as a then teacher. This course also provided a lot of leadership
theories, but there was much relevant tie in with the real work of school
administrators. The assignments, discussions and group work were valuable in
providing a deeper connection to the material. The two topics that stuck out for me throughout this course were the idea of servant leadership and effectively managing
change. Although there were many, many other ideas I could discuss in this
final reflection, those were the two that impacted me the most throughout this
course.

Before
starting this course, when I thought about effective school leaders, my mind would
picture an outgoing, charismatic, passionate leader. One who inspires everyone
he or she meets and is willing and determined to take on challenges with a “full
steam ahead” attitude. As new school administrator myself, I found this idea
challenging because that is simply not my personality. I am passionate about my
work and not afraid to take on challenges, but I am usually able to accomplish
more when I spend more time initially listening rather than acting. I am a very
patient, kind person and I try very hard to listen to the concerns of others
and then put structures in place which allow them to be successful. When I read
the Jossey-Bass chapter by Thomas Sergiovanni on “Leadership as Stewardship”, I
found my own leadership philosophies validated throughout this reading.

Barth
discussed the servant leader as the “head learner, engaged in the most important
enterprise of the schoolhouse–experiencing, displaying, modeling and
celebrating what it is hoped and expected that teachers and pupils will do” (as
cited in Sergiovanni, 1992, p. 80). This style is not a command or even
instructional style leadership. It is a way to empower teachers to better
manage themselves, therefore aligning the work of all teachers with the school’s
overarching goals. Sergiovanni (1992) also highlighted the concept of “power
over” verses “power to” (p. 86). When administrators practice “power over”
leadership, they set the rules and guidelines in which others must adhere to.
The leadership power is solely in the school leader and the constituents are
expected to follow the leader. In a “power to” leadership style, the leadership
is established around shared goals and constituents are empowered to make
decisions and design initiatives as long as they are aligned with the school
vision and goals.

This type
of leadership makes so much sense to me. As a teacher with a former servant
leader as a principal, I learned fast that this freedom and empowerment to take
on challenges and make decisions was exciting and invigorating. I truly felt a
part of the learning community and that my actions impacted everyone. This is
how I want to lead others in my role as a technology director. I want the
teachers I work with to feel excited about their work and realize the positive
energy that can come from working together as a team towards common goals.
After learning about the servant leadership style, I no longer picture that
authoritative, take-charge personality when I think of successful school
leaders. I now think of individuals who put the goals of the school above all
else and work with their colleagues to achieve these goals through listening,
modeling, encouraging, empowering and supporting others.

The second
issue in the course, one that I found more challenging, was the issue of
managing change; both first and second order change as described by Marzano (2005). I not
only found the idea of managing change daunting, but I also disagreed with
Marzano’s (2005) assessment that second-order change is not incremental in that it is
so out of the box it requires completely new perspectives. In our early work on
creating a shared vision and school goals, I don’t see how second order change
would involve radically new concepts if a shared vision is currently in place
is a school. If that vision and accompanying goals are defining the work of the
school, then even dramatic changes would still be viewed as incremental in achieving
the goals of the school.

In reading
about these different types of change, my ideas on leading through shared
decision making with strong and continuous communication were reinforced. If
school leaders and leadership teams are able to communicate how a change (first
or second order) will move the school forward in reaching its goals, then some
of the fear, confusion and hesitation that can accompany change (Fullan, 2001)
can be alleviated.

As a
technology director, school issues in educational technology drive my work and
decision making. The pace of change with educational technology is ever changing
is challenging component to negotiate. As decisions are made with the best data
at the time, and then the “next big thing” comes along a few months later, it is
important to understand that this is a part of the leadership process with educational
technology. Communicating how decisions and purchases are being driven by
larger school goals is very important in generating support for technology initiatives.
I truly found the course work for this class to be beneficial in providing me
the skills and insights to be a more effective educational leader. The
challenge will be to keep these ideas in the forefront as my immense day-to-day
work of school administration continues.

1 comment:

Katri, it's definitely a course where many core values and beliefs are validated. The Servant Leadership model is one that will always prevail and sustain efforts the long haul. Power and authoritative styles never last for long, but can reek havoc on schools. Leading with or along side others will accomplish things collectively with much less resistance. Always keep teaching and learning in the forefront of initiatives. Technology is the tool and investments can be made hastily without detailed planning. Good luck with the rest of your work and continued growth! You have done a nice job over the last 8 weeks.